Epiphanies,

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In the middle of the night, two new roommates came. They happen to be brothers from Chicago and snore a lot. When breakfast came around, I was really hungry and looking forward to the free food. It was cereal and toast, but it was still good. After eating I decided to walk around and explore the neighborhood of Albaicin. It is known for being the part mostly influenced by the Arabs. So i headed that way walking a long the road to the main plaza when I was stopped by a police barrier. I was a little curious about why they wouldn’t let anyone pass through when I saw people there. So I looked around them and saw people dressed in long medieval looking robes and movie cameras. I was pretty sure they were filming something, but I wasn't quite sure what. They had a really great view of the Alhambra, so maybe it is something from the medieval ages. I ended up following the detour, going up many steps. I ended up climbing around trying to find the Mirador de San Nicolas. I found out a couple of things; the maps are usually wrong and the signs will always point to where you are going. I spent probably 30 minutes going up steps this way and that trying to find it. Finally, I found it and was able to enjoy the beautiful view of the Alhambra with snow-covered mountain tops in the back ground. The view was amazing, but the sun was starting to make me melt. I headed back down the hill through the million different streets, not sure where I was. I wondered why the Ana, the lady who works at the hostal, couldn't point out where the lookout was on the map. I understand now. I couldn't even point it out on a map or tell you how I got there or got back. Somehow I made it down to the street I wanted to. Its covered in colorful shops with tons of Moorish things; a must see in the neighborhood. I walked around and looked inside most of the shops. I walked in one and started talking to the worker in Spanish. He didn’t speak any English, but he was really nice and flirted with me. When I went to buy a cool ring, he ended up giving me his number saying if I wanted to hang out before I leave or needed a personal guide around the city to give him a call. I said thank you, and walked away not quite sure what to think. I ended up going to a restaurant called Kabob King and ordered a "kabob". It ended up being a bunch of ingredients stuffed into a pita type bread, and then it is cooked. I ordered a normal which came with corn, chicken, peppers, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes and a lot of unknown things. I wasn't aware of the onions, peppers, or tomatoes, otherwise I would have asked for something else. But to my surprise, it was delicious. I sat there and thought for a while. I thought about what if I decided to take the guy up on his offer or what if I decided to do nothing about it. When I look back at this moment, what will I wish I would have done? I contemplated this for a while until every bit of my food was gone. I got up and walked back to my hostal to rest for a little bit since everything was closing for seista time. I ended up being able to buy my tickets to see the Alhambra tomorrow. I have to go to a special ATM to print them, so I went looking for that ATM. I found it, but it wouldn't let me print my tickets yet. So I will try tomorrow and pray for the best. I ended up roaming around the city, lost in thought. Again, I thought about what to do about the young man. You are dying to know what I decided to do, aren't you? So I begun to think about what my story would be. Would I have this perfect day touring the city with a local? Would I think to much about having a perfect summer romance day and be disappointed when real life didn't live up my expectations? Would I end up being kidnapped and either murdered or sold into human drug/sex trafficking? (My mom assumed the later, saying two words: Natalee Holloway) What I realized was that those are a bunch of what if's with no certainty of what would really happen. All I have right now, in this moment, was a wonderful conversation with a young man and his phone number. That is when I realized that when I look back and tell this story, I want to have that perfect, unsoiled moment. All though I have learned to pursue moments before they get away from you, I have also learned when to hold on to a moment. My thoughts peacefully lingered there, until I began to become hungry. I bought some food for dinner from a supermarket and headed back to my hostal. I ate my food and talked some with my new roommates. When I was finished, I headed back to my room to prepare myself for some much needed sleep. It is hard to believe that I have been here for 5 weeks already. Out of those 5 weeks, I have been traveling on my own for 3 weeks. It is still hard for me to comprehend that I have been on my own for 3 weeks. I never would have believed that I would be able to do all of this and be completely happy by myself. Which I couldn't if God wasn't with me every step of the way, leading me, guiding me, and watching over me. I would literally be lost without Him. In two days I will be done with this part of my journey and on to what I call, the third part of my journey. Only 6 weeks left, but I am currently only focusing on enjoy today. But if I was thinking about the future, I would be able to look back to today and say that it was the moment that everything changed.

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Photos

The Alhambra from the Mirador.

My delicious Kabob.

Experimenting with my camera's settings.

A cool church.

Setting "painting".

The river where they were filming.

Comments

[MRS. LINDA]

OOH-LA-LA!!! HANDSOME YOUNG MAN, MAKINGS OF A ROMANTIC MOVIE.....
HMMM? A MOVIE WITH TWO ENDINGS, HAPPILY EVER AFTER, NOT SO HAPPILY? AND BEAUTIFUL SCENERY BESIDES. THAT PITA BREAD THINGY LOOKED YUMMY. ENOUGH FOR TWO, MAYBE? I DO HOPE THERE IS SOME WAY TO SEE ALL OF THE PHOTOS, ONE AFTER ANOTHER. OH, PRETTY GIRL! YOU ARE ONE BRAVE YOUNG LADY. I CAN'T IMAGINE SLEEPING IN A ROOM FILLED WITH STRANGERS! TAKE CARE, LOTS OF PRAYER. I TALK TO GOD ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.